The present invention relates in general to respirators and in particular, to a new and useful lock for the carrying case of an emergency respirator.
Emergency respirators which are for the protection of a wearer, usually contain filter materials that are highly sensitive to moisture. Such respirators are therefore stored, during their usually long carrying time or shelf life, in tightly closing carrying cases. The parts of these cases, which are usually made up of a pot shaped part with a cover, are held together with locks by which they are braced against each other. These locks must be easy to open when needed, but until then, they should guarantee the air and moisture tightness of the carrying case. They must therefore be sealable. A person in charge of a group carrying such cases, can evaluate the functioning of the seals and make sure the seals remain intact.
The carrying cases carry various data on the outside, like manufacturer's mark, name and number of apparatus, delivery date, weight etc. These data were heretofore applied by stamping, punching or engraving.
A known strap lock for gas-tight cases for respirators keeps the two parts of the case, which are sealed from each other by packing between them, together by a circumferential metal strap with which the packing is covered at the same time. The metal strap is connected at one end with one or both parts of the case. To this end the strap is hook-shaped and extends behind corresponding fastening means of the case. The other end of the strap is provided with a tear-open lug for gripping, and is arranged above the first strap end. The two strap ends are held together by a clamp-like part whose yoke is under the metal strap bearing on the case, with a bent-off lug protruding through slot-type openings of the strap ends and holding them together. Outer clamp parts are in addition bent around the two strap ends. When the case is opened, these two clamp parts bend open and the upper clamp end with the tear off lug detaches itself from the bent-off lug. The metal strap can then be bent open further, and the cover of the case can be removed. A seal, which is secured above the outer strap end on the bent-off lug serves to secure the lock.
This known lock is difficult to close. It requires a special device, the seal can only be applied by an additional soldering operation. The necessary data can only be applied on the case itself (German utility model No. 17 34 071).